Recap: Avs lose in shootout to the Kings
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Avs could not protect a third period lead that built on some Cale Makar wizardry. The Colorado Avalanche had plenty of opportunities to win, but some poorly timed mistakes and bad puck luck pushed what should have been a regulation win to the shootout, where the Avs could not score while the Kings scored twice.
First Period
Like practically every game the past month, the Avalanche were outplayed in the first period, and midway through they found themselves down 1-0.
Second Period
Just like practically every game the past month, the Avs found their footing and took control of the game in the second. After a great play by Devon Toews, J.T. Compher found himself with the puck and no netminder in front of him.
After Phillip Danault scored a power play goal to give the Kings the lead, Andrew Cogliano tapped into his inner Joe Sakic to tie the game back up.
Soon after, Cale Makar added another goal to his never-ending career highlight reel.
Just a couple minutes later, Makar one-upped his previous highlight-reel goal and nutmegged a defender, then helped set up Evan Rodrigues at the back post.
Third Period
Just when it looked like Colorado would cruise to a victory, Alex Iafallo found himself all alone in front of the net and got the Kings right back in the game.
Despite controlling much of the third period, Colorado could not shut the door, and Sean Walker picked the top corner with just over five minutes left to send the game to overtime.
Overtime
There was not much action for most of the period as the Kings possessed much of the puck without doing anything too threatening.
Makar had an opportunity to end it, but the puck rolled on him and both teams went to the shootout. After both teams stopping the other in the first round, the Kings took the lead for good in the second and then ended the game with another goal in the third.
Takeaways
It was a solid game but the Avs just weren’t good enough. Yet another bad start hurt them, as Cogliano lamented how Colorado just “was not prepared” to start the game. They were able to take the lead with some great play and some Makar wizardy, and the advanced stats yet again show a Colorado team that deserved to win both by the Corsi chart at 5-on-5 below, and their 1.74 to 0.82 expected goal advantage at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick.
Naturalstattrick.com
The Kings played well and proved how dangerous they can be offensively, but this was the Avalanche’s game to win and it’s disappointing that they didn’t.
Upcoming
Colorado hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on New Year’s Eve at Ball Arena at 7:00 p.m. MT....
Want the trending hockey news in your inbox daily?.
Just add your email, and we'll start sending you the most important hockey news of the day.
